The Adventures of Little Dude: Part Five

Part Five:  Decision Making

Sarah felt very glad to be out of her pooped-on t-shirt.  Her face, her rubber gloves, and now her hands were all scrubbed clean when her husband walked through the door.  That surprised her, because she was trying to be as quick as she could so she could join him downstairs.  Their plan was going to be bird watching to see if Mama returned to the nest.

Before she could ask why he had come up, he spoke and answered her query.  “He fell out of the nest again.”

Sarah felt her heart drop.  The first thought that surfaced was one of surprise mixed with I-wondered-if-that-was-going-to-happen mixed with, “What?!”

Her husband nodded. “I saw him fall.  Good thing I placed the bowl with towels we had him in right under the opening, so he fell onto that instead of the ground.”

Sarah felt relief, but still, she wondered, “Is he okay?”

“I think so.  It was a soft fall this time around, at least.  He seems fine.”

Sarah felt a little bit better hearing that, but worry plagued her.  Little Dude was going to be a problem.  She sighed and walked downstairs to the carport with her husband.  There was Little Dude, sitting a little awkwardly in his makeshift nest, but otherwise looking fine.  He was now starting to squawk and make noise.  Sarah bent down and stared at him.

“Why did you have to fall out of your nest again?” Sarah asked him.

A series of squawks erupted from Little Dude in answer.   

I wish I could understand bird language.

Sarah heaved another sigh.  What was she going to do?  Sure, she could try to put Little Dude back up in his nest for a second time, but she couldn’t trust that he was going to stay there, and if she continued to hang out near the nest, Mama might be nearby and feel threatened that her home wasn’t safe anymore and would abandon it.  That would endanger the other baby Starling that was still up there.

Sarah left Little Dude and walked to the other end of the carport with her husband.  There were two options left to them:  try to take care of Little Dude themselves, or try to contact someone else who could. 

After some more discussion, the decision was becoming clearer:  Sarah needed to contact someone, because she really didn’t know how to take care of a baby bird on her own.  She feared that Little Dude would shrivel up if she tried to take him under her wing. 

After some phone calls (on a Saturday evening, no less) Sarah finally got the phone number to her local Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic.  They asked if she could send a picture of the bird so they could know how young and what breed he was.  Sarah did so, and they confirmed that Little Dude was a baby Starling that was too young to be out of his nest.  He wasn’t a state protected bird, so Sarah had the option of taking care of him if she wanted, or she could bring Little Dude to them.

Sarah stared at Little Dude, wanting to give him the best possible chances for survival.

“Would you be able to take him?” she asked the woman over the phone.

“Yes,” the woman replied.

“Okay, what is your address?” Sarah asked.  The woman gave it to her, and Sarah’s heart stammered a little bit.  The wildlife clinic was forty-five minutes away!  For a city girl, that was quite a drive, and with gas prices being what they were, she and her husband measured their amount of driving carefully.  Despite all that, though, taking the drive was what she and her husband were going to do. 

Hanging up, Sarah stared at her husband, and with that silent look they gave each other, they both knew that Little Dude’s survival was worth it.   

Sarah then walked up to Little Dude, picked up his makeshift nest, and said, “Well Little Dude, this will be a different kind of flying, but you are going on an adventure with us.”

Stay tuned for the finale.  Part Six will be available Tuesday!